Good morning. Be welcomed into worship this Lord’s Day. I recently read the story of Kirk Dearman, who in 1980 wrote the well-known chorus: We Bring the Sacrifice of Praise. These are the lyrics:
We bring the sacrifice of praise
into the house of the Lord.
We bring the sacrifice of praise
into the house of the Lord.
And we offer up to you
the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and we offer up to you
the sacrifices of joy.
Simple, easy to remember and easy to sing. According to Mr. Dearman, the inspiration for that chorus came from a Bible study lesson he attended called “the essence of worship”. The scriptural basis for the chorus comes from Hebrews 13:15 Through Jesus let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name.
The context of that verse in Hebrews 13 speaks of the Old Testament worship centered around the sacrifice of animals. Their blood was shed as a sacrifice to God and as a reminder to His people that the cost of sin would always be blood. This verse in Hebrews reminds us that the cost for our sin is paid by the sacrificial blood of Jesus.
Through Jesus we continuously offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. Notice that it doesn’t say we do so only on Sunday mornings. Through Jesus we continuously bring our sacrifice of praise to God. In our worship today the only blood required is the remembrance of His sacrifice, as we celebrate around the Lord’s table. Our sacrifice today, and always, is one of PRAISE!
Bring a sacrifice of PRAISE to Him today with your whole heart, with a bold voice, with an eager spirit.
Vern